LiverKick - LiverKick

K-1's relative silence continues, although there is a rumor of K-1 MAX happening in June or July, we've seen nothing definitive yet. The recent success of the Stand Up Japan event featuring Masato and KID Yamamoto has spawned a lot of positive press and apparently another charity event coming up in July. The Japanese press is all over the main event for the event as it will be a clash between Europe and Japan.

Japanese press have dubbed it "It's Showtime Japan vs. REBELS" with the main event being Giorgio Petrosyan vs. HINATA. Both men are at the top of the heap in the 70kg weight class. Petrosyan is currently the man to beat at 70kg, looking utterly unstoppable with two K-1 World MAX Championships in his possession. At the It's Showtime Lyon press conference Petrosyan mentioned that K-1 has still yet to pay him for his backpay, so there is a slim chance outside of K-1 making it up to Petrosyan, and if they actually have an event, that we'll see him competiing for them again.

So this should be considered a rare appearance in Japan for Petrosyan, against the top Japanese 70kg fighter outside of Yoshihiro Sato. There is talk of European Fighting Network and It's Showtime being more involved with the event, so stay tuned for more news regarding this event. [source]

Hinata was in action this weekend, taking part in an event for Japan's REBELS organization. The young fighter was in the main event, facing Korea's Woo Yong Choi. K-1 MAX fans may remember Choi as Pajonsuk's victim at the 2010 MAX Grand Prix Final 16 event. Hinata took the victory, scoring a head kick knockout at the start of the 3rd round. There's no video available yet, although pictures available at BoutReview.com certainly indicate that Choi took quite the beating. Check out the impressive photos here.

At the end of the fight, Hinata issued a challenge to Japan's top K-1 MAX star Yoshihiro Sato, which sounds like a great fight to me.

Hinata was one of the break out stars of 2010, as wins over Yuya Yamamoto and Artur Kyshenko brought him great acclaim. Since being choked out by Andy Souwer in Shootboxing, Hinata has now won two in a row, first over Andre Dida at K-1 MAX, and now against Choi.

The only way to watch this event was to be there in person, it will not be released online or on TV until August, but we found some videos and a few of the results. Andy Souwer beat Kido again, this time in the extra round, they both received yellow cards, and even a red cards during the fight, for what we think was holding, but we aren't positive and even Souwer himself wasn't sure. Nagashima got DQ'd for catching the leg and administering an illegal sweep from which Zanolini could not continue.

Here are the main fight results, we will update more as we receive them.

At It's Showtime's inaugural Japanese event, Giorgio Petrosyan was able to cruise past rising star HINATA on scores of 30-27, 30-25(x2) and 30-26(x2). It appears as though HINATA was docked two points throughout the course of the fight, which I believe were a result of 3 spinning backfists, which are illegal under It's Showtime rules. HINATA gained momentum in 2009 and 2010 with upsets over the likes of Mike Zambidis, Yuya Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Kido and most notably, a knockout of Artur Kyshenko. However he was knocked out by Hiroki Nakajima at the 2010 K-1 MAX Japan GP and choked out in under a minute by Andy Souwer at a Shootboxing event.

For Petrosyan, this is yet another dominating win in what has been a near perfect career thus far. He is currently riding a 4 and a half year unbeaten streak, capturing two K-1 MAX titles and defeating nearly every top fighter at 70kg. A win at It's Showtime's Fast and Furious tournament as well as another K-1 MAX title could secure his place as the most dominant fighter in combat sports, however some believe a rematch with Buakaw Por. Pramuk and matchups with the likes of Yodsanklai are necessary before handing Petrosyan that title.

In the night's co-feature, Korean K-1 mainstay Chi Bin Lim was able to outlast the exciting Mosab Amrani, taking a unanimous decision in the extension round after a majority draw through 3. This fight was a #1 contender's bout for the It's Showtime 65kg Title. Chi Bin Lim is set to face champion Orono Wor Petchpun who last defended his title in May of last year at the Amsterdam Arena show.

In the other #1 contender's bout for the right to face It's Showtime 61kg Champion Javier Hernandez, former RISE 63kg Champion Kan Itabashi defeated former AJKF Featherweight Champion Genki Yamamoto by unanimous decision in the extension round after a split draw through 3. Itabashi will be looking to regain a world title after losing his RISE Championship to Kosuke Komiyama back in February.

In the night's main event, Hiroki Shishido secured his spot in his 5th straight S-Cup with a 1st round KO of Satoru Suzuki. Shishido (49-17-0, 21 KO) scored a spinning backfist that dropped Suzuki and kept him down, snapping a 4-fight losing streak for Shishido. He had been struggling as of late, losing 6 of his last 7 with uncharacteristic losses to MMA fighters Toby Imada and "Lion" Takeshi Inoue, but picks up a big win here and should give him some momentum for the S-Cup. In the 2010 S-Cup, he dropped a decision to eventual champion Buakaw Por. Pramuk. Suzuki (8-12-0, 5 KO) had a chance to avenge a loss from his first fight in Shootboxing, but fell in the first round once again. Despite becoming one of Shootboxing's most popular fighters, it looks like Suzuki will miss out on this year's S-Cup.

In the co-main event, Shootboxing newcomers and K-1 veterans Warren Stevelmans and Hinata fought for a spot in this year's S-Cup, with Stevelmans winning a unanimous decision on scores of 30-28, 28-27 and 29-28. Stevelmans (56-16-4, 16 KO) dropped Hinata in the second round and it was enough to get him into this year's S-Cup. This was his second fight in Shootboxing, previously defeating Hiroki Shishido in the main event of Shootboxing Act.1 earlier this year. Hinata (23-13-1, 8 KO) was also making his second appearance in Shootboxing after a 48 second loss to Andy Souwer in 2010.

In the final S-Cup qualifier, Bovy Sor Udomson made quick work of former PRIDE and UFC star Akihiro Gono with a 1st round TKO at 2:15. Bovy (85-46-2, 53 KO) will make his 2nd S-Cup appearance with this win, losing to Andy Souwer in the quarterfinals of his first S-Cup in 2010. Bovy had most recently lost to Satoru Suzuki, but that is irrelevant as Bovy is in the S-Cup while Suzuki is not. Gono (5-4-0, 1 KO) initially weighed in over weight and had to re-weigh this morning before the event. After retiring from MMA earlier this year and returning to kickboxing in 2011, Gono had stated that he wanted to qualify for the S-Cup. A win in DEEP got him this fight, but he was unable to capitalize and this loss could possibly be the last fight in an entertaining career. If it is, hopefully the Magic Man can continue to find ways to entertain fans outside of fighting.

Assuming Shootboxing will be able to bring back their 4 semifinalists from 2010 (Buakaw Por. Pramuk, Toby Imada, Andy Souwer and Henri van Opstal), there is only 1 open spot remaining. It is possible that the spot could be given to one of today's losers, presumably Satoru Suzuki, or it could go to Shootboxing Super Lightweight champ Hiroaki Suzuki. With Shishido being the only Japanese fighter to qualify for the tournament, I expect either Suzuki to be a more viable option than a 7th foreigner.

In a 60kg bout, RISE 60kg champ Kosuke Komiyama continued his winning ways with a unanimous decision over Shootboxing Super Featherweight champ Akifumi Utagawa on scores of 30-28 and 30-29(x2). Komiyama (19-2-0, 11 KO) has looked extremely impressive since a questionable split decision loss to Keiji Ozaki in K-1 and is looking for divisional supremacy at 60kg, though that will be hard to claim until he fights against the best that Krush has to offer. To his credit, he has called out Hirotaka Urabe in the past, but nothing has come of it. Utagawa (32-13-1, 1 NC, 15 KO) had his 4-fight winning streak snapped here.

Rise 100 - Blade 0 - event will be taking place July 12 at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. There are some big names on the card like Andy Souwer, Hinata, Yasuhiro Kido, and Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima. Souwer Vs Kido should be an exciting rematch, I'm curious to see how Andy will adapt to Kido's awkward style this time (first fight was K-1 Final 16, 2013). The Weigh in's have already taken place and some pictures have been put on facebook here.

Earlier today, REBELS held a two-part event, REBELS.13 and the first installment of REBELS Muay Thai, in which all fights are full contact. The headliner was an S-Cup playoff to determine the last participant between Henri van Opstal and Yuichiro Nagashima, as well as a REBELS 65kg title fight.

In the night's main event, Henri van Opstal improved to 5-0 against Japanese opposition with a unanimous decision of Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima on scores of 29-28 and 30-29(x2). Nagashima was surprisingly close in this fight considering how bad he looked against Kenmun in K-1 last year. van Opstal (19-3-0) is on a 3-fight winning streak and with this win, puts himself in his 2nd straight S-Cup. With a relatively week field, van Opstal could easily find himself making it to the finals and possibly facing off against fellow teammate and mentor Andy Souwer. Nagashima (19-5-0, 13 KO) takes just his 2nd kickboxing fight in as many years, focusing on pro wrestling with K-1's recent sale. He looks to have been much improved from his fight last year, but still wasn't good enough to beat van Opstal. He is set to fight at Glory 4 Tokyo on December 2nd.

In a rematch from REBELS.12, Zen Fujita won a unanimous decision over MA Kick Super Lightweight champion Mohan Dragon on scores of 30-28 and 29-28(x2) to win the inaugural REBELS 65kg title. The two fought in July to a 5 round draw for what was then the It's Showtime Japan 65kg title, before Glory's acquisition of It's Showtime. I would have expected the 3 round fight to favor Mohan Dragon, who throws almost every strike with full power, but Fujita was able to take the decision in the shorter fight. Fujita improves to 2-1-1 on the year, while Mohan Dragon tastes defeat for the first time. I would definitely like to see both of these guys in Krush's planned 67kg tournament.

At 85kg, It's Showtime Japan 95kg champ Toshio Matsumoto won a majority decision over Hidekazu Kimura on scores of 29-29, 29-28 and 30-29. Matsumoto (38-9-6, 30 KO) has now won 9 in a row since dropping down from Heavyweight and is set to fight at Glory 4 Tokyo on December 2nd. Kimura falls to 1-2 on the year, losing to recently crowned RISE Heavyweight champ Kengo Shimizu at RISE 87.

At 70kg, Hinata took another easy win, this time a 2nd round KO of Norihisa Amimoto. Hinata (24-13-1, 8 KO) is 3-3 this year, with losses to Andy Ristie, Henri van Opstal and Warren Stevelmans and wins over an undersized Zen Fujita, Kang Jung-woo and now Amimoto. While Hinata has the talent to hang with top guys, he has not scored a quality win since his upset of Arthur Kyshenko over 2 years ago.

Also on the REBELS.13 portion of the card was Shootboxing vet Kazuyuki Fushimi possibly earning himself a shot at REBELS 55kg champ Hiroaki Mizuhara with a win over Taisuke Degai. Also, Sho Ogawa had his 4-fight win streak snapped by Tatsuya Inaishi.

The headliner for the REBELS Muay Thai 1 portion of the card saw WPMF Japan Welterweight champ T-98 and former Rajadamnern Stadium ranker Semsan Sor Sompung fight to a majority draw. T-98 had won 7 straight coming into this fight including winning his WPMF Japan title and winning a fight in Thailand. Along with Yuya Yamato, he is one of the top fighters in the 67kg division and although he fights almost entirely under full contact rules, he would be a great addition to the Krush 67kg tournament.

WPMF Japan Super Featherweight champion SHIGERU defended his title for the first time with a unanimous decision over Tomoaki Suehiro on scores of 49-47, 49-48 and 49-46. SHIGERU (8-0-1, 1 KO) remains undefeated, having won 3 in a row since the first blemish on his record, though he avenged that draw with a win over the man who gave it to him, Takahiro Fujimaki, and most recently handed DEEP*KICK 65kg champ Hiroto Yamaguchi his first pro loss. Should he want to fight under Krush rules, SHIGERU definitely deserves a shot in Krush at 58kg or 60kg.

The Blade1 show will be taking place on December 29th at the Ota City General Gymnasium on December 29th in Tokyo, Japan. The card will consist of a 61 kgs tournament as well as quite a few superfights with well known names.

Zabit Samedov will be back in action facing Japan's Uehara Makoto should be a good for fight for Samedov I'd imagine. Slovenian Samo Petje fresh off his KO over Hinata will be facing another big Japanese name in Yasuhiro Kido, I have a feeling this will be fight of the night because Kido won't be going down without a fight. Next we have Hinata taking on the Cos-Play king Nagashima, I am very curious about this fight, it's all going to come down to who can avoid the others strengths. If Nagashima can get past Hinata's left kick and land any one of his powerful punches I feel he could finish him, otherwise Hinata is just going to kick him non-stop all fight.